Even the Ice Princess Cries Liquid Tears
by akakurogin
Summary: [ONESHOT] Short. Bittersweet. Someone's birthday. I'll give you one guess who's.


Disclaimer: Sailor Moon does not belong to me.  
  
Note: This is a one-shot - my gift for SMF's first birthday.  
  
Even the Ice Princess Cries Liquid Tears  
  
----  
  
It was that time of year again. Except this year, it would be different.  
  
The young princess sighed tiredly as she threw herself onto the window seat overlooking the lake behind the palace. She rested her head on her arms, propped up against the windowsill, staring at the couples rowing on the lake, the friends picnicking on the small island, and the children pretending to be dolphins, jumping in and out of the water. She watched the burning yellow sunrise smooth into gentler aqua on the shimmering, rippling water.  
  
'It's so calm here,' she thought. 'This is where I belong. So why do they tell me I don't?'  
  
She sighed again, except this time in frustration, as she stood up, too agitated to remain motionless, and reflected upon what had occurred at daybreak.  
  
~*~  
  
"Princess, you are to leave for the Moon in one week, on September 10th. You are going to begin your training with the other chosen ones to become the Inner Senshi for the Moon Princess Serenity," her mother had told her, voice cold enough to liquidate nitrogen.  
  
"Yes Mother," she replied. "Shall I begin packing?"  
  
"Yes. And Princess," her mother continued, as the girl had begun to turn, "You will only return when the Princess is Queen."  
  
"Yes Mother," the girl parroted herself, and turned to leave.  
  
~*~  
  
However, instead of returning to her room to pack, the princess all but flew to her favorite place in the whole palace, the one place where she wouldn't be disturbed - the window seat in the far right corner of the third level of the library. Here, behind rows and rows of books and among the friendships they alone offered her, she had always found solitude.  
  
'So cold,' the child thought. 'Mother's voice was so cold, almost as though she really didn't care that I would be leaving, and that I would never see her again. How… How can anyone be so cold and unfeeling?'  
  
Pacing feverishly between the bookshelves, she thought about her past birthday "parties". Her mother always insisted upon following tradition. Now how tradition entailed throwing those awfully boring balls, with the stiff-necked council-members and the lecherous - and most likely greedy - old noblemen vying for her mother's and her attention, she would never understand. Sure, she knew all the rules perfectly, such as never turn down a dance, never dance more than once with each man, etc. Yet, she would never figure out why such extravagance was put forth for such inconsequential birthdays, while a birthday as important as her upcoming one would be allowed so little notice as to be spent on a transport away from the kingdom - never to see her mother alive again.  
  
Suddenly she stopped in her pacing. The old table was in front of her, a single forgotten piece sitting on a white box. Slowly, as one bewitched, she reached out a hand to lightly touch the glass piece. She gasped as memories overcome her and recoiled from the burning cold of the piece. Whenever she wanted to hide from the ladies-in-waiting who kept fussing over her looks for the balls, she would run to the library. While sitting out the wait, she would play chess against herself. Her games always ended in stalemates, but she knew she improved. The lone pawn… 'It's the same as me. A small piece on a vast board, valuable if queened, but more likely to be sacrificed for the good of the kingdom. The same game is repeated so often… what's its real purpose? There are only two results, and yet infinite different ways to reach the same result.'  
  
Sighing, she looked up from the table, out the window, and realized she had already paced out the span of the library, and was looking out on the opposite side of the palace, at the gardens and the city beyond. The formerly baby blue leaves on the large maple tree directly outside the French windows were losing their color, yet still hanging tightly to the tree in their newly colored sickly blue-grey hue. 'Interesting,' she thought, opening the window and stepping onto the balcony. Reaching out and tugging off a leaf, she studied it, before slowly lifting her gaze to the tree. 'It's already the beginning of another autumn - the time when all the plants die. It's such a gloomy season, even more so than winter.  
  
~^~  
  
Retiring to her quarters, the girl found a suitcase already opened on her bed, ready to be packed. Hesitantly, she began scanning her room, picking out the important daily life things and items she didn't want to part with. Most of her clothes and furniture and such would be bought on the Moon, to avoid the transportation hassle. The pawn and leaf she placed into a small purse.   
  
~^~  
  
At the transport pad, the princess said her final good-byes to her mother. Not a drop of tear was shed between the two of them, as she boarded the ship and left the only home she'd ever known. Once on board the ship, the child collapsed onto her bed. Small frame shook with dry sobs. 'Am I truly ice?' she wondered. 'Have the tears frozen up inside me? Can I not even cry when I will never see my mother, and quite possibly my home planet, again?'  
  
In such a position, she fell asleep. A sniffle came from the emotion-wrought girl in her sleep, and a crystal drop slid down her face.  
  
~^~  
  
When she stepped off the ship, the girl wasn't surprised that only an advisor was there to greet her. After validating she was the expected princess, the cat said, "I am Luna, advisor to the Queen Serenity. Please follow me - your baggage will be taken to your room immediately." From the corner of her eye, the princess could see servants already taking her suitcase from the ship.  
  
Walking down the long, cold corridor, the princess thought, 'Looks like even on the Moon, renowned for its warmth and feeling, can't help a person made of ice, as I am.'  
  
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY"  
  
Startled, the young princess could only gasp as she was shown into a room with only two girls, a banner, and a cake. An exotic-looking young girl came up to hug her, sympathy in her eyes, and whispered "I first came here on my birthday, too. It'll be OK." Stepping back, she curtsied. "I'm Rei, Princess of Mars."  
  
"And I'm Serenity, Princess of the Moon."  
  
The princess was shocked by the warmth she felt from the two, though each girl radiated a different aura. Rei's warmth was almost a painful burning, like that of the deceitful fire. Serenity's was soothing, more like elusive light.  
  
"We know what you're going through. But don't worry, you'll love it here," Rei said kindly, smiling at her. "I'm starting to."  
  
She felt her heart beginning to warm up, and perhaps even thaw.  
  
"Come on, blow out the candles!" Serenity added excitedly. "Don't forget to make a wish!" Stepping up to the cake, the princess thought hard, then blew out all six candles in one breath. "Sugoi! That means your wish will come true!"  
  
'I think it already has, Princess,' the girl thought, as they pulled the candles from the cake, and cut it up. As they ate, the new arrival became acquainted with the other two.  
  
~^~  
  
That night, the princess took the leaf out of her purse. Looking up at the sky, searching for Mercury, she thought, 'I was wrong. Autumn isn't the end of life. It's the cleansing of the old life, for a new and better one.' She pinpointed Mercury and took the pawn out at the same time. Holding the chess piece up to the window, she pointed at Mercury with it. 'I will not be one of the fallen. I will be queened. Chess does not always end the same way - sometimes more pieces are sacrificed, sometimes less. In this game, no pieces will be sacrificed.'   
  
As she fell asleep, a glistening drop slid down her face - a liquid tear of understanding, of determination, of life, and of hope. 


End file.
